I write about style, art, culture, watches and high-end cars as a staff writer for Forbes. Whether I'm talking with Bernard Arnault, Jeff Koons or Ralph Lauren, my goal is to explore life from the inside, to figure out what success means to those who believe they have attained it--or are well on their way. Write to me at helliott@forbes.com. You can also follow me on Twitter (@HannahElliott), Instagram (@HannahElliottxo), Facebook and Google+.

Officials estimated they spent more than $400 million to build the racing complex, which wasn’t completed until a day or two before the race (when I arrived they had yet to grass the lawns or set up VIP paddocks). But the race by all accounts was a hit: Total attendance over three days was 265,499 people.

In the days before the race, the mood among the drivers tended toward eager if antsy anticipation. Each were equally unfamiliar with the 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit, and much attention was paid to an imposingly steep hill and sharp left turn on the northeast section of the course.

“I’m excited and a little anxious, because I don’t know what to expect,” Sergio Perez told me the evening before his first test day on the track. “I’ll calm down a bit once I can see what the course is like.”

Word from Perez after the first day of tests was that the course was slick and fast and fun. I’d guess the thousands of fans chanting “CHE-CO CHE-CO” on the far back turn added to his fun, too.

Lewis Hamilton probably had the most fun that weekend–he won the Austin race for his fourth Grand Prix win of the season and his second U.S. Grand Prix victory in five years (Hamilton won the 2007 F1 race in Indianapolis).

Sebastian Vettel, who at the time was the points leader in the drivers’ standings, placed second for Red Bull Racing. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished third.

The day before the race Forbes Style Director Joseph DeAcetis had some fun with the boys and the latest (brightest!) fashions for fall.

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